Bringing the power of a blood donation to life for a new audience

The idea: The Virtual Blood Donation

There is a constant need for new blood donors to come forward, particularly young people and those with rarer blood types from the black and South Asian communities.

To engage these audiences, we needed to create something that would make them stop and take notice, encourage conversation and drive new donor registrations.

We did exactly that. We created an augmented reality app that synched to outdoor screens, which featured an empty blood bag and an ill patient. Members of the public became virtual donors and watched as virtual ‘blood’ flowed from their arm into the blood bag. As the bag filled up the patient got better, demonstrating the impact their donation could have.

Accolades

The Virtual Blood Donation has been rewarded multiple times including a Revo Opal Award for Media, Two Golds at the IPM Awards, an IAB Bookmark Silver, Media Week Bronze and a Creative Circle award for Best use of Digital OOH.

It was also 2nd in Campaign Magazine's Outdoor Ads of the Year and has been included in the IPA's 'Magic & Machines' exhibition, as well as the Wellcome Collection's 'Can Graphic Design Save Your Life?'